NIGHTS AT THE CIRCUS

I’m about 60 pages into Book 10, Nights at the Circus, by Angela Carter.

Why I own this book: This was a late entrant into the Project; coworker D gave it to me upon discovering that he had two copies. I thought it only fair that I should add another book to the list, seeing as I had copped out on Women in Love after 71 pages. I read a fair amount of Carter in high school and own The Bloody Chamber and Wise Children, so I was happy to read another of her books. Nights at the Circus is basically about a woman with wings (is she a real freak or a fake?) and, like other Carter books, is both rollicking and grotesque. Carter occasionally turns me off with her over-the-topness, but mostly the book is interesting and fun so far.

ETHAN FROME

Book 9 is Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton.

Why I own this book: I acquired a nice hardcover castoff copy from my dad.

Why I hadn’t read it: What I knew of the plot (mainly from watching bits and pieces of the Masterpiece Theater adaptation starring Liam Neeson years ago) didn’t appeal to me much. It seemed slight, and different from Wharton’s other books.

Why I still own it: I love The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth.

And the verdict? Wow. It may be a short book, practically a novella, but man, is it well-written—efficient, economical, and depressing as all hell. The introduction in the copy I read talked about how ironic it is that Wharton’s least representative work should have become her most famous (apparently she herself didn’t think much of Ethan Frome), but I can sure see where it gets its rep.

THE READING PROJECT, PHASE 1

With only two books left in The Reading Project (well ahead of schedule—I’d given myself a whole year), I’m already looking around for a new list of books to assign myself. It’s so silly to give oneself homework, but as someone who loves a good to-do list, I’ve realized I have to play to my strengths. If this motivates me to read a bunch of books I never would have otherwise gotten around to reading, then so be it. I have really enjoyed the Project so far. The English major in me is fulfilled to be reading “classics” again, and the bookworm in me is thrilled that most of the books I’ve read have been highly entertaining.

So I thought I’d make a handy little reference list I can update as I complete things...

THE GOAL: To read all the novels I own but haven't read before.

1. Felix Holt: The Radical, by George Eliot**
2. Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger****
3. Love Medicine, by Louise Erdrich**
4. Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald***
5. A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster***
6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey****
7. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence*
8. Pnin, by Vladimir Nabokov****
9. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton***
10. Nights at the Circus, by Angela Carter**
11. The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot***

* = Didn’t like, didn’t finish
** = OK, but wouldn’t reread
*** = Liked it
**** = Loved it
() = not yet read

I’m contemplating several options for Phase 2 of the Project. Once I finish Mill, I’ll be done with the initial list I set for myself, but I won’t technically have read every work of fiction that I own, because I didn’t include anthologies and omnibuses in the first go-round. There are 13 more unread books that are part of larger books on my shelves, and they’re likely candidates for my next Project. Or perhaps I should take a break from fiction and read all the unread nonfiction books I own? Another thing I’d like to do is to read more, or perhaps the complete works, by writers I’ve liked in the past. For instance, I’ve read every Austen book (even the unfinished novel, Sanditon) except Mansfield Park. And now, after the Project, I’ve read four of George Eliot’s novels—should I read the rest? I like the idea of getting really deeply into one writer’s body of work for a while. So, anyway, I’ll keep you posted on next steps. Most likely, in the meantime, I’ll spend some time goofing off with fluffy library books before embarking on a new phase of the Project.